1300 Men

She may have taught us all the “pleasure principle,” but beloved icon Janet Jackson’s happiness didn’t come as easily as a song and dance. In an exclusive essay and cover story for Essence Magazine’s first-ever “Happiness” issue, the living legend—who will also headline the 2018 Essence Festival on Sunday, July 8—writes readers a deeply empathetic “Letter From My Heart,” chronicling her own challenging journey to joy. “When it comes to happiness, I’m no expert,” Jackson writes. “I have only my life experience as a guide. I’ve known great happiness and great sadness. But I guess the key question is, What do I really know about happiness?” In the intimate essay, Jackson confesses that her issues with self-esteem began in childhood, saying, “I was happy when my brothers came home from performing on the road. I was happy when my mother lavished me with love. But I wasn’t happy … [Read more...] about Ms. Jackson, If You’re Happy: Janet Jackson Shares Her Journey to Joy in Essence’s ‘Happiness’ Issue

I didn’t think it was possible for a series of tweets to accurately synopsize a city (Pittsburgh), a country (America), a mindset (whiteness), a political policy (kind colonization) and a person, but Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto somehow did exactly that. Last night, Shaun King tweeted out the news of the death of Antwon Rose Jr., the 17-year-old shot (reportedly in the back) and killed by Pittsburgh-area police. Now, this shooting happened in a borough named East Pittsburgh, which exists a few miles east of Pittsburgh. King’s tweet referred to that area as the East Pittsburgh area, which could be read as if the shooting happened in the city of Pittsburgh but on the east side. It’s a confusing semantic detail that matters, but in comparison to the actual story about a dead teenager shot in cold blood by the police, who gives a shit? Well, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto gives all of the shits. I’ve read this tweet maybe a dozen times, just to make sure I’m … [Read more...] about Pittsburgh Mayor’s Response to Pittsburgh-Area Teen Killed by Police? ‘My Name’s Dewitt and I Don’t Give a Shit’

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen thought that she was going to enjoy a fine working Mexican dinner of migrant baby hearts and mother’s tears Tuesday night until protesters learned she was there. According to CNN, “Protesters from the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America came into MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a popular restaurant near the White House,” emerging as if they’d just unloaded from God’s chariot, carrying signs and shouting chants of “shame” and “end family separation.” Let me say that for the record, I don’t condone harassment. I also don’t condone being a heartless bitch who doesn’t understand the irony of separating migrant children from their loved ones while dining on the food of the same people whose lives she is destroying. Seriously, this is some Game of Thrones level evil-shit. At this point, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is sitting outside Nielsen’s bedroom door … [Read more...] about DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Shamed By Protesters at a Mexican Restaurant…A MEXICAN RESTAURANT!

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday that the New York Police Department will ticket smokers instead of automatically arresting them, unless they already have past arrest or convictions. The New York Times reports that policy will begin Sep. 1. The new policy won’t stop police from stopping and frisking people who they assume are smoking marijuana. People who are caught smoking will still be handcuffed and taken to a police station for fingerprinting to see if they’ve been arrested in connection with a violent crime in the last three years, on probation, parole, or have an open arrest warrant. Of course, despite the easing up of marijuana policy, black and Hispanic people are still seeing disparities in the issuing of tickets. In the first four months of this year, 80 percent of those given tickets for marijuana possession were black or Hispanic, the Times notes. … [Read more...] about NYC Mayor Changes Marijuana Policy To Reduce Arrests

A San Francisco, Cali., mother has filed a lawsuit alleging that the city kept her teenage son locked in a cell for days even though a judge determined there was no reason the boy should have been arrested in the first place and ordered his release. On June 29, 2017, Tureko Straughter’s 15-year-old son was booked into a juvenile detention center after being arrested for a nonviolent property crime, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The same day, at 2 p.m., San Francisco Superior Court Judge Braden Woods found “there was not sufficient probable cause” for the teen’s arrest. So Judge Woods released the child to his mother. But according to court documents, one probation detention officer, Samuel Nwigwe, concluded that the child had given officers a fake name. Nwigwe assumed that the boy somehow changed his criminal record to reflect that he had had no prior arrest history. The officer found it suspicious that another child had the same birthdate, last name … [Read more...] about Black Teen Incarcerated For Days Despite No Probable Cause After Judge’s Release Order: Lawsuit